Using the Game Center player identifier in a parse PFUser object?

Question

I want to use Apples Game Center for players to log in to my game, but I also want to store additional gameplay related data from the players as well. I want to use the Parse.com service, so I was thinking about having the players signup/login to Game Center when the game loads, and then if it's not already been done, store the players, "player identifier" in a PFUser object on parse. That way I'll be able to store data for the player on parse.

So my question (finally) is, is that a good way to do it? I'm new to iOS so I was wondering if there are any obvious issues with that way of doing things that I'm missing?

Thanks for any advice.

Answer 1

It's not a bad way to do it. That way you use a unique ID for each parse user, then storing additional data in Parse is easy. The steps would be:

• authenticate the user with GameCenter
• login to Parse with an auto ID or username/password combination
• set a new 'gameCenter ID' property for your PFUser in Parse

You'll face some data redundancy, though it's worth noting that the PFUser uniqueID is created on the server side and can't be seeded or modified on the device (not even after creation, I believe). Adding a separate field to your user database to store the GKID data will allow you to find & allocate data to a specific user in the future.

Here's the relevant page from Apple's GameCenter Documentation

Also worth noting: you can generate a PFUser with an auto ID (assuming your user has internet connectivity), which will be as useful for you when saving additional data, so you may not even need to use the GameCenter userID. This auto ID will likely persist within the app until the user a) updates the app, b) deletes and reinstalls the app, or c) follows any other login/signup process you have in the app (Parse is your friend). The primary reason for using the GameCenter ID is that it will be the same for a user across devices/app installs/updates, etc.